Al said: At $599, the rPlay costs 20 times as much as Google’s puck-like Chromecast Audio -- but when you use the Arcam to listen to Tidal or Spotify, or stream music from a media server on your computer or NAS, your ears will tell you that the difference is worth the money.

Vade said: I know several audiophiles who spurn any prepackaged server/network player, preferring to optimize their systems’ sound by tweaking the system parameters; if that’s the way you feel, the DAC9’s very good sound quality and gorgeous looks make it an easy recommendation.